{SQT} First World Lenten Whining
Is Lent over yet? The last few days have just been so spiritually fulfilling, and I’ve already sacrificed oh so much, I can’t fathom how adding another 37 days could possibly do me much more good. In fact, it might be unhealthy.
Do you think my confessor will buy it? Yeah, I don’t think so either. I’ve probably negated any graces by just writing the above sentences. It’ll be 12 years this Easter since I joined the church and I still don’t have this Catholic thing down pat. Besides blasphemy, other highlights of the week have included:
1. I’m planning our Outer Banks trip. It will coincide with a trip to visit our nephew for his First Holy Communion. Despite it being a “family vacation” and all the work that entails, I’m looking forward to it. The downside is, this is the first non-Ocean City vacation we’ve taken since Teddy’s arrival and it means we’ve maxed out on most normal sized vacation accommodations. And Fulton’s medical needs mean camping under a circus tent is out of the question. Currently, I’m exploring fishing shacks with lots of steps. If anyone can hook a gal and her very clean, non-smoking, non-pet family up with some sweet, discounted accommodations I’ll give you a favorable write-up, free ad, fill in for you at your child’s spring music concert – whatever! Let me know future bestie!
2.And FYI, we did have a brief experience as travel trailer owners that failed miserably. I’ll have to detail it in a future post when I can stomach typing out our horrible decision-making process.
3. I finally caved and downloaded the Angry Birds Rio ap onto Fulton’s iPad. I really felt like having twoAB versions was already more than enough. (I swear, everything else is educational.) It reminded me of the song ‘Rio’ by Duran Duran. I vaguely remember scantily clad women in the music video so I’d always thought the song was about Rio De Janeiro. Imagine my surprise when I played the song for the kids today and discovered it mentioned the Rio Grande river! This whole episode spurred a great geography lesson which was ruined by my spastic dancing and poor singing. I believe Byron’s exact words were “I’m going to throw up. Stop.”
4. Speaking of Byron’s great ideas, tonight at dinner he suggested, “Why don’t we break a comedy and a horror DVD in half, and then put a half from each in the DVD player and watch it?! It’d be like, jokers juggling dead bodies or something!”
5. I’m eating raisins like they’re candy and they are SO not even close to being candy. Without sweets, all my comfort food is gone. It’s now officially a year since I gave up gluten and while my health is better (yay to no more “intestinal distress”!) I would still gnaw my left leg off for some consequence free Pizza Hut pizza (boo to voluntary amputation!). My feelings towards gluten-free pizza can best be summarized by this video.
5. Colleen is featuring embarrassing mom stories over at her blog on Mondays. Read her first post here and you’ll understand how impossible it was for me to write something that came even remotely close to being that mortifying, yet side splittingly hilarious. Didn’t stop me from trying though. My embarrassing mom story will run by the end of the month. Check back so you don’t miss it.
6. If you’re in the PA, DE, NJ area and are homeschooling or remotely thinking about it, why not swing by the CHAPLET Catholic Homeschool Conference in Berlin, NJ on Saturday, April 13 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.? I’ll be there and if you don’t find me too annoying in person we can eat lunch together, share stories and hug awkwardly when it’s time for me to go and hook up the AV equipment. But we can still sit together during the speaker’s presentations if you want. Or not, that’s cool too.
7. And because we didn’t have quite enough religious art to freak out our secular/ Protestant friends and family, we purchased this neat antique stations of the cross display piece.
If this mail car load of takes on my train of thought has already passed your station, catch the Pony Express back to Jen’s for more 7QT. Â
That video. I’m dying.
Also, Byron’s idea? Genius. You have to search for recut movies. Like The Shining trailer made into a romantic comedy.
And, I don’t know if I should go to Colleen’s right now. I just ate so much food that I think I am going into preterm labor. No laughing needed.
That Almost Pizza skit is one of my favorite SNL skits ever. We watch it over and over. “You can put tofu on a pizza and still legally call it a pizza.” So funny.
“If anything, it’s getting hotter! What is this Carol!” It never stops getting funny, EVER.
My that is… quite the piece of devotional decor. It’s no Bavarian clock, that’s for sure.
I just mapquested (yes, adding -ed to any noun makes it a verb, and no, I don’t hear the ENglish language screaming) Berlin, NJ, and it’s 4 hours from me. Four hours. Ugh. Three hours is the outer limit of my solo daytrip drive time.
See what you can do about getting Berlin to inch its way an hour closer to CT for next year, yes?
Ahhh, we share our Catholiciversary!!! It will also be twelve years this Easter for me. And sometimes I feel like I still don’t have this Catholic stuff down yet either. What strikes my funny bone most during Lent are the people who aren’t practicing Catholics who are so adamant about following Lenten Friday abstinence rules. Really??? Why worry about it if you don’t go to Mass like ever. I just don’t get it. Anyway, hang in there with the raisins and best you probably stay away from that Almost Pizza. 🙂 I gave up my most favorite comfort food, Mac and Cheese. I made it through this half week ok, but all my friends kinda gave the ‘are you serious’ look when I told them. Mac and Cheese is truly my most favoritest, in fact the girls I work with usually decide we are having that for lunch when I am having a bad day. So it’s truly a sacrifice that I am offering up.
Love the Stations of the Cross display!
Just wanted to tell you I am so loving your blog!
Hello,
I found you through “Like Mother Like Daughter” when they ran a blog contest for you a couple of weeks back and I’m SO glad I *found* you!
I’m sorry I can’t help with vacation rentals…perhaps a private home would be less expensive? Have you checked “VRBO”.com or the local newspaper? (I often go through Craigslist for goods and used furniture—but I’m wary of having you check on there for a place to stay—there are some really creepy people on Craigslist and I don’t want your family in danger)! Gah!
I have been Catholic 22 years this Easter and I am *still* trying to learn all our faith has to offer…remember, just like I tell my kids, God loves you MORE when your sacrifice is hard! He must love you bunches!
Are you able to eat fruit? Strawberries, frozen grapes and satsuma oranges are my “go to” fruit when I need a sweet tooth remedy. How about fruit leather? I don’t care much for raisins, so that would be one of my sacrifices to eat them!
God bless you and your family, and have a blessed Lent!
Sincerely,
Donna L.
Kelly, on Saturday I asked my sister to use the iPad to look up the readings for Sunday. (We usually read them aloud to the kids and discuss them to give them a heads-up/head-start on comprehension.) When she passed me the iPad and I saw it said “First Sunday in Lent,” I was all: NO. It is not possible there is no way it’s only been 4 days since Ash Wednesday. So I most certainly feel you pain.
Where did you get the antique Stations thingy?! I need one!!
Kelly – Is there a vendor list anywhere for the Chaplet Conference? I saw that Seton will be there, but was wondering if any of the other vendors I would like to check out might be there.
Oh, and my husband wants a travel trailer. Badly. We have to go to the RV show next weekend (for the 3rd year in a row…) to check them out. I need to hear your story to um, delay/deter this purchase.
Wondering if you would say how much you paid for that stations of the cross. We have one just like it and wondered what they tend to be going for (and I realize condition can mean a lot concerning these things) – thanks!